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WFIE
WFIE, O&O by Raycom Media, is the NBC network affiliate serving the Evansville, Indiana metropolitan area, known as the "Tri-State" area of Indiana, Kentucky & Illinois. It operates on UHF ch. 14 & in HD on ch. 46, also on the UHF dial. History The station began broadcasting on November 15, 1953 on ch. 62, originally co-owned by Jesse, Isadore & Oscar Fine. It was the 6th TV station in Indiana. The station, with FCC approval, moved to ch. 14 in August 1961. The station was an affiliate of NBC, ABC & DuMont. The station's call letters mean "We're First In Evansville". While it was the first station with it's main studio in Evansville, WEHT had actually beaten it to the air by a few months from it's studios in Henderson. The Fines sold WFIE to the Morton family of Louisville, owners of fellow NBC affiliate WAVE-TV, in 1956. The Mortons' broadcasting holdings would eventually become known as Orion Broadcasting. In October 1981, Orion merged with Cosmos Broadcasting Corporation, a subsidiary of insurance & broadcasting conglomerate Liberty Corporation. Liberty bowed out of the insurance business in 2000, bringing WFIE directly under the Liberty banner. On February 1 2006, Liberty merged with Raycom. In May 2002, WFIE began broadcasting digitally on ch. 46. In Fall 2005, WFIE launched a 24 hour, local, Wx channel on DT ch. 14.2. "First Alert Weather Now" features an L-shaped display & continuously shows doppler weather radar & local & national forecasts. It's very similar to NBC Wx+. On April 3 2006, WFIE abandoned 615 Music's popular "News One" theme music in favor of "NBC Flagship", part of "The NBC Collection", by Gari Communications. This marked the station's 1st theme change since 1996. In early August 2006, WFIE began branding their newscasts as "14 News", dropping the "Newswatch 14" identity. In a further transition, WFIE rebranded their weather department under the "First Alert" label on September 22 2006. This is a departure from the "Storm Team" brand used since the mid-90s. Later, on April 16 2007, WFIE introduced it's "Dual Doppler" to the market, with weather radars in both Evansville & Owensboro. In November 2006, WFIE added The Tube Music Network on DT ch. 14.3, in accordance with many Raycom Media stations. In summer 2007, The Tube shut down & WFIE ceased programming on 14.3. First in Evansville WFIE claims to be the 1st TV station in Evansville. While technically true, the market's 1st TV station is actually WEHT, which began operations on September 27, 1953. Although WEHT is licensed to Evansville, it's studios & transmitter are located across the Ohio River in Henderson, Kentucky. WFIE, like WEHT, also has it's transmitter & tower in Henderson. WFIE was the market's 1st TV station to telecast color programs, in 1956. It was the 1st in Evansville to telecast live & local color programs, beginning on March 10, 1966. The station also became the 1st in the market to broadcast local news, sports & weather outside it's studios in August 1977. In the ensuing years, WFIE would have 3 more "1sts". It became the 1st TV station in the market to broadcast in stereo in September 1985; it was the 2nd station in Indiana (1st in Evansville) to build it's own Doppler weather radar system (located next to the TV station building), in February 1988 & on April 16 2007, WFIE introduced a 2nd radar to the market, this time in Owensboro, Kentucky, on top of the Owensboro Medical Health System hospital building. Programs WFIE airs many syndicated programs such as Dr. Phil, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Jeopardy! & Wheel of Fortune. Until the mid-2000s, it also carried Live with Regis & Kelly, before moving to WEHT. Like many other Evansville market stations, WFIE airs infomercials as part of it''s daytime schedule in the afternoons. Notable WFIE Alumni * Marcia Yockey, 1953 off-&-on through 1990s * Liza Danver, weekend anchor (now @ WISH-TV in Indianapolis, Indiana) * David Wilson, Weather Man - 1960s * Kennan Oliphant, Reporter (now @ WCPO-TV in Cincinnati, Ohio) * Tanya Jourdain (as Tanya Spencer), Reporter & weekend anchor (now @ WRTV-TV in Indianapolis, Indiana) External links *14 News' Website *The History of WFIE-TV